2025-11-25 12:41
BRASILIA, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Brazil's foreign direct investment inflows through October have already surpassed last year's total, central bank data showed on Tuesday, as the government expects FDI to reach a record high this year. The improvement in FDI, considered a higher-quality form of financing because it reflects long-term investment in productive activity, should help offset a worsening current account balance in Latin America's largest economy. Sign up here. Year-to-date FDI reached $74.257 billion after a higher-than-expected inflow in October, the central bank said, up 8.8% from a year earlier and above the $74.091 billion recorded in all of 2024. The country drew $10.937 billion in foreign direct investments last month, while economists polled by Reuters expected $6.304 billion. Vice President Geraldo Alckmin said on Monday that Brazil was on track to set an FDI record this year. The country's highest annual inflow so far was in 2011, at $102.427 billion. CURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICIT On the other hand, Brazil posted a $5.121 billion current account deficit in October, wider than the $4.8 billion expected in the Reuters poll. The year-to-date shortfall hit $62.072 billion, a 20.5% year-on-year increase. The deteriorating scenario stems mainly from a weaker trade surplus, as imports have grown faster than exports amid resilient economic activity despite restrictive interest rates aimed at taming inflation. Over the 12 months through October, the current account deficit stood at 3.48% of gross domestic product (GDP), but was fully covered by FDI at 3.63% of GDP - something that had not been seen since January. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazils-foreign-direct-investment-through-october-surpasses-2024-total-2025-11-25/
2025-11-25 12:33
MANILA, Nov 25 (Reuters) - International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said on Tuesday the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant will need a "special status" and a cooperation agreement between Russia and Ukraine if a peace deal is reached. Russian forces seized the plant, Europe's largest with six reactors, in the first weeks of Moscow's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The plant produces no electricity, but each side regularly accuses the other of military actions compromising nuclear safety. Sign up here. "Whatever side of the line it ends up, you will have to have a cooperative arrangement or a cooperative atmosphere," he said. Grossi's comments come as U.S. President Donald Trump's administration makes an intense new push to end the war. U.S. and Ukrainian officials are trying to narrow the gaps between them over a draft peace plan that includes provisions for Zaporizhzhia's future. Without peace, there is danger of a nuclear accident, Grossi said. "Until the war stops or there is a ceasefire or the guns are silenced, there is always a possibility of something going very, very wrong," he said in an interview. "No single operator can use a nuclear power plant when across the river there is another country which is resisting this and may take action against that." A draft version of the U.S.-backed 28-point peace plan for Ukraine, according to a copy seen by Reuters, proposes restarting the plant under IAEA supervision, with electricity output split equally between Russia and Ukraine. "Shared, not shared - and I don't want to get into that because it's political - ...it's something that Ukraine and Russia will be deciding at some point," Grossi said. "But one thing is clear, the IAEA is indispensable in this situation." Zaporizhzhia's six reactors have been in cold shutdown since 2022, relying on external power lines and emergency systems to prevent a station blackout. The IAEA maintains a continued presence at the site to monitor safety amid ongoing shelling. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/zaporizhzhia-nuclear-plant-needs-cooperation-agreement-event-ukraine-peace-says-2025-11-25/
2025-11-25 12:32
MOSCOW, Nov 25 (Reuters) - The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) resumed loadings on Tuesday after overnight attacks by Ukrainian drones, two sources familiar with the matter said. CPC said earlier that it had temporarily suspended oil loadings at its Russian Black Sea terminal near Novorossiisk due to an the Ukrainian drone attack which had damaged its office. Sign up here. It did not provide further details, referring to previous statements about its operations which usually resume once air raid warnings are cancelled. One industry source said that CPC's operations had been largely unaffected. The CPC pipeline is a key export route for Kazakhstan's crude to global markets, with most volumes shipped to Europe and Asia. Russia also supplies smaller volumes to the CPC system. CPC's shareholders include U.S. majors Chevron (CVX.N) , opens new tab and Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) , opens new tab. CPC Blend oil exports were revised down in November to about 1.45 million barrels per day from 1.55 million bpd, according to sources. One of the sources familiar with the loadings said that the November export plan may not be completed in full due to multiple suspensions this month amid drone attacks and bad weather. Government officials in Russia's southern Krasnodar region said earlier on Telegram that five high-rise residential buildings and two private homes had sustained damage in the Ukrainian attack. They said falling drone debris had triggered fires at two sites and emergency services were bringing them under control. Four people were reported injured. Drone fragments were also reported to have smashed windows and damaged buildings in Krasnodar, the region's administrative centre. One person in a village south of Novorossiisk was also reported to have been injured. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/cpc-says-it-temporarily-halted-oil-loadings-russias-novorossiysk-during-drone-2025-11-25/
2025-11-25 11:58
US sanctions impact Serbia's NIS refinery operations Serbia faces supply issues, economic impact from sanctions Washington demands Russian divestment from NIS within three months BELGRADE, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Serbia's Russia-owned NIS (NIIS.BEL) , opens new tab oil refinery will shut down in four days if the United States does not lift sanctions on the project, risking fuel supplies ahead of winter, President Aleksandar Vucic said in a televised address on Tuesday. The Balkan country does have enough fuel reserves in the short term, but a shutdown of its only refinery will halt production of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel and may hurt the country's economy, Vucic said. Sign up here. He said that he would give the Russian owners, which include Gazprom Neft (SIBN.MM) , opens new tab and Gazprom (GAZP.MM) , opens new tab, 50 days to sell their stake in NIS or the Serbian state would take over operations and make an offer to buy them out. "Serbia is facing major problems," Vucic said. "When you impose sanctions against Russia and its companies, they end up hitting our country," he said. Vucic said the sanctions may impact supply lines and electricity production. The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) placed sanctions on Russia's oil sector in January, including NIS. The US granted NIS repeated waivers before the sanctions finally came into effect in October. Banks then stopped processing NIS payments and Croatia's JANAF (JANF.ZA) , opens new tab pipeline halted crude deliveries to the refinery, forcing the Balkan country to look for alternative supplies ahead of winter. Washington is seeking complete Russian divestment from NIS and on November 15 it has given the company's owners by February 13 to find a buyer of the Russian stake. Gazprom Neft holds 44.9% of NIS and Gazprom (GAZP.MM) , opens new tab 11.3%. Serbia owns 29.9%, with the rest held by small shareholders. Serbia's government on Monday said it has sufficient fuel in its own reserves to supply the domestic market. Vucic said NIS's own reserves stand at 55,000 metric tons of diesel and 50,000 tons of gasoline, which are estimated to last until late December. The state also has 184,000 tons of diesel and 19,000 tons of gasoline in its own reserves and additional 20,000 tons of diesel and 35,000 tons of gasoline are expected to be imported in December and January, he said. Serbia is also almost entirely dependent on imports of Russian gas via the Turk Stream gas pipeline. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/serbias-nis-oil-refinery-halts-operations-us-sanctions-bite-report-2025-11-25/
2025-11-25 11:57
JAKARTA, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Indonesia has sent reinforcements to a National Park on Sumatra island after a forestry task force command post was destroyed in response to palm oil plantation seizures, the Forestry Ministry said on Tuesday. President Prabowo Subianto's forestry task force, which includes military personnel and state prosecutors, has this year launched a crackdown on palm oil plantations they say have been running illegally in forest areas, an operation the palm oil industry says could disrupt global supplies. Sign up here. "This reinforcement aims to re-secure the tactical command post, prevent further damage, and ensure that the operation to restore order and restore the ecosystem continues to run smoothly," the ministry said in a statement. An additional 30 soldiers and 20 forestry police personnel have been deployed to Tesso Nilo National Park in Indonesia's Riau province, the ministry said, to intensify patrols, guard areas prone to encroachment and monitor guard posts. ENDANGERED SUMATRAN ELEPHANT The 83,000-hectare (205,000-acre) National Park is home to the critically endangered Sumatran elephant and has faced years of encroachment, the government said. The ministry said the task force had seized 4,700 hectares of illegal palm oil in the Tesso Nilo National Park area, dismantled access to the plantations, and demolished buildings related to the illegal oil palm operation in the area. "Our enforcement operations in Tesso Nilo are designed to break the chain of business that is destroying the area, not to sacrifice the people. Our focus is on landowners, financiers, and heavy equipment operators who trade in state forest areas,” said senior Forestry Ministry official Dwi Januarto Nugroho. Thousands of residents in Indonesia's Riau province palm oil belt protested last week against the takeover of their plantations by the government task force trying to restore the ecosystem in an 8,000-hectare area inside the park. Across the archipelago, around 3.7 million hectares (9.1 million acres) of plantations have been seized, with nearly half transferred to the nascent state-run firm Agrinas Palma Nusantara, transforming it into the world's largest palm oil company by land size. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/indonesia-increases-patrols-sumatra-national-park-after-attacks-task-force-2025-11-25/
2025-11-25 11:54
Sanctions to cause sharp December drop in Russian oil imports, sources say Refiners seek options on tighter Western curbs, bank scrutiny Putin to visit India in December, Kremlin says NEW DELHI/MOSCOW, Nov 25 (Reuters) - India's oil imports from Russia in November are set to hit their highest level in five months, preliminary data from Kpler shows, as refiners rushed to secure barrels ahead of a U.S. deadline to end transactions with sanctioned Russian oil producers. India, the world's third-largest oil importer, has been the biggest buyer of discounted seaborne Russian crude after Russia was shunned by Western countries following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Sign up here. Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to visit the South Asian country next month, according to the Kremlin. His last trip there was in December 2021, a few months before ordering troops into Ukraine. Britain, the European Union and the United States have tightened sanctions on Moscow over the war, with Washington’s latest measures targeting the country's biggest producers Rosneft (ROSN.MM) , opens new tab and Lukoil (LKOH.MM) , opens new tab. Buyers of Russian oil had until November 21 to wind down dealings with the two companies. RUSSIAN OIL IMPORTS TO RISE BEFORE FALLING IN DECEMBER India's purchases of Russian oil are expected to rise to 1.855 million bpd this month from 1.48 million bpd in October, according to provisional data from ship tracking agency Kpler, defying numerous predictions for a fall in the wake of the new sanctions against Rosneft and Lukoil. This would be the highest since July when it imported 1.52 million bpd. "Russian supply is expected to be high in November as many refineries tried to fill the stocks prior to the U.S. sanctions deadline and also due to the rule for oil products production for EU market from non-Russian oil from 2026," a trade source said. However, the imports are seen falling to their lowest in at least three years in December, as refiners turn to alternatives to avoid breaching the Western sanctions, trade and refining sources said on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media. Separately, the EU has set a January 21 deadline after which it will decline fuel from refineries that handled Russian crude within 60 days of the bill of lading. Bank scrutiny following the latest U.S. sanctions has made Indian state refiners "extremely cautious", one of the refining sources said, adding that India is likely to get 600,000 to 650,000 barrels per day of Russian oil in December. These include imports by Indian Oil Corp (IOC.NS) , opens new tab, Nayara Energy and delivery of some November-loading cargoes for Reliance Industries (RELI.NS) , opens new tab, the source added, citing preliminary lifting plans of Indian companies. MOST INDIAN REFINERS HALT RUSSIAN BUYS Most Indian refiners, such as Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL.NS) , opens new tab, Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL.NS) , opens new tab and HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd, have stopped buying Russian oil. Reliance Industries Ltd (RELI.NS) , opens new tab has said it loaded Russian oil cargoes "precommitted" as of October 22, and will process any arriving after November 20 at its refinery that produces fuel for the local market. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/indias-november-russian-oil-imports-set-hit-five-month-high-kpler-data-shows-2025-11-25/
